Bottle carrier



E. L. ARNESON BOTTLE CARRIER April 29, 1952 Filed Feb. 15, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOI Q I Jmeeam lawz'izl.

April 29, 1952 E. L. ARNESON BOTTLE CARRIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1949 INVENTOR. [Q2002 Z flr/zeaoiz BY Maw/f MW April 29, 1952 E. L. ARNESON 2,594,377

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Feb. 15, 1949 s Sheets-Sheet 5 I I x 42 Z5 A9 ZZZ 45 -19 17 3 v JNVENTOR. 77 5 16 /6 55 iczwuzldrxzeaorz,

Patented Apr. 29, 1952 BOTTLE CARRIER Edwin L. Arneson, Morris, 11]., assignorto Morris Paper Mills, Chi go, I1l., a corporation of Illinois Application February 15, 1949, Serial No. 76,607

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to improve ments in a flexible paperboard carrier for beverage bottles or like elongated articles of uniform shape and size. More particularly, the invention concerns an open top type bottle carrier, characterized by pairs of opposed side and end walls, a central, upstanding, suspending and partition panel disposed between and paralleling said side wall, and cross partition straps extending between said panel and side walls, in which carrier novel provisions are incorporated whereby the carrier is maintained in erected condition with said side walls spaced laterally from said panel for the reception of the intended contents.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, inexpensive bottle carrier which is fabricated from a suitable grade of flexible paperboard stock and which has an improved type of cross partition structure enabling the carrier to be quickly and easily erected from a fiat, knocked-down condition to operative form, and to be locked in said erected, operative condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle carrier of the type described, characterized by a central, upstanding, suspending or handle panel, by a pair of side walls paralleling said panel on either side thereof, by opposed end walls normal to the side walls and which are medially joined to said panel, and by a cross partition structure adapted to subdivide the .space on opposite sides of said handle panel into bottle receiving cells, in which said cross partition structure includes means interengageablc with the suspending and handle panel to retain said cross partition structure in the erected condition thereof.

A still further and more specific object is to provide a paperboard carrier of the foregoing type, including an improved cross partition structure which is cut from the material of the central panel and the side walls, the elements of said cross partition structure being individually collapsible on themselves in the inoperative, knocked-down condition of the carrier, from which they are foldable to an operative position at a right angle to the panel and side walls, said elements being further provided with looking elements which are interengageable with the central panel of the carrier to maintain the cross partition structure and the carrier in operative condition.

The foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature of the invention, but other and more specific objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction and operation of the device. 7

A single embodiment of the invention is presented herein for purpose of exemplification, and it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of incorporation in other modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a paperboard blank employed in the construction of the present bottle carrier, illustrating the same in preliminarily creased, slitted and glued condition.

Figs. 2 and 3 are top plan views of the afore-. said blank following certain folding and gluing operations subsequently performed thereon;

Fig. 4; is a top plan view of the completed, folded carrier, in the inoperative, fiat, knocked down condition thereof;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of the carrier following initial manipulation thereof in erecting the same from the knocked-down condition shown in Fig. 4 to a fully set-up condition;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the carrier in erected condition, ready for the reception of its intended contents;

Fig. 7 is a view of the carrier in longitudinal vertical section paralleling the central suspending and partition panel of the same, being viewed approximately as indicated by the line 7--'l of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a view in transverse vertical section along a line generally corresponding to line 8-8 of Fig. '7.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the blank from which the present carrier is constructed is generally designated by the reference numeral It, being died out in the shape shown from a sheet of flexible paperboard stock of asuitable grade and thickness or caliper. It is subdivided into two sections H. and I2 which are, for the most part, symmetrical with respect to a central, vertically extending, creased fold line 13. In view of the symmetrical character of the two sections ll, l2, like reference numerals will be employed to designate like corresponding parts or members. Said fold line extends medially of the bottom section it of the bottom blank, thereby subdividing the same into two like, generally rectangular bottom members [5.

A crease It paralleling the medial crease l3 serves to flexibly conjoin the bottom member IS with a side wall panel I! or the blank. The end margins of this side wall panel are defined by parallel creases l8 disposed normal to the crease I6, being located approximately at opposite ends of the latter. End wall panels I9, flexibly conjoined to the side wall panel H by said creases 8, are each medially subdivided into sections 20, 2| of equal width by means of a crease 22 paralleling the creases I8. Sections 20, 2| are collapsible onto one another, in the inoperative, flat, knocked-down condition of the carrier, about the crease 22. A further parallel crease 23 serves to hingedly connect a terminal, end wall flap section 24 to the section 2| of end wall panel l9. Said section 24 is provided, adjacent the inner margin thereof with a shaped, bottom locking hook 25, the function of which will hereinafter appear.

Again referring to the side wall panel l1, it includes a central, outwardly extending portion 21 of rectangular shape, bounded at either end thereof by parallel hinge creases 28. Side wall panel portion 21 outwardly delimits a central cell of the carrier in the erected condition of the latter. Various elements of the central panel and cross partition structure, with which the invention is primarily concerned, are separated from and flexibly conjoined to this side wall portion 21 and the side wall panel |1 proper, by the following provisions.

Curved slits 29 in the material of side wall panels |1 extend in opposite directions outwardly from the inner termini of the creases 29 which define the opposite ends of the projecting panel portion 21. These slits are produced, in dieing out the blank H), by the same cutter that curvedly shapes the outer margin of the end wall panel l9 and its conjoined flap 24. The slits 29 thus serve to separate a cross partition element, generally designated 30, from the side wall panel i1, and it will be noted that the length of this cross partition element 30 is such as to over-extend'the crease l8 which defines the end margin of the side wall panel 11. Parallel slits 3|, 32 spaced outwardly from curved slit 29 serve to further separate a suspending and handle panel section 33 of generally rectangular outline, from the cross partition elements 3|] and the side wall panel |1. This last named panel is flexibly conjoined to the cross partition element 30 by a crease which is an extension of the crease 28, hence is designated by the reference numeral 28. Further short creases 34 paralleling the creases 28, 28 extend normal to and between the slits 3| and 32. These subdivide the cross partition element 30 in a manner to provide an uncreased partition section 35 of generally L-shaped outline, which extends outwardly from crease 28 to an outer free margin of element 30, and a hinging section 36 which lies between parallel creases 28, 34 and slits 3|, 32. Said section subsequently serves as a locking and bracing element forthe carrier and its cross partition structure.

The central handle panel section 33 outwardly adjoins the above described cross partition structure, being flexibly connected thereto by creases 28 and separated from the side wall panel H by slit 3|. This panel section is provided with laterally spaced hand holes 31 and deflectable flaps 38 of a well known character which it is not deemed necessary to describe in further detail.

To the above extent, the blank sections l2 are identical in shape and have the common structural features described. Section II differs from section |2 in being provided with a further suspending and handle panel 40. This is of outline similar to that of panel 33 and is flexibly conjoined to the latter by a creased fold line 4|. Panel 40 is provided with hand holes and with a pair of spaced detent notches 42 in its outer lateral margin, said notches being located in approximate lateral alignment with the creases 28, 28 of the blank.

In completing the carrier from the above described blank, adhesive 43 is applied to panel sections 33 as indicated by stippling. The end panel sections 2| and their conjoined flaps 24 are folded inwardly and downwardly about the creases 22 to the position illustrated in Fig. 2,

and said flaps are adhered at overlapped zones to sections 33. Next, adhesive 44 is applied to the upper surface of the thus infolded flaps 24, as indicated by stippling. Handle panel section 44 is now folded over along crease 4| and adhered to the last named flaps 24 on carrier section H, and is then provided with a coating 45 of adhesive, as illustrated in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the detent notches 42 are thus brought into vertical register with the creases 28' by which the cross partition structure is hingedly conjoined to the side wall panel l1 and central panel structure of the carrier, designated 46.

The sections |2 of the carrier are then folded onto one another about the medial bottom crease I3 and adhered to one another at the flaps 24 and panel sections 33, 40 to complete the carrier, the same being now in the flat condition illustrated in Fig. 4.

In erecting the carrier from the flat or knocked-down condition of Fig. 4 to fully erected condition, ready to receive its intended contents, it is only necessary to apply compressive force to the lateral margins of the carrier, corresponding to the marginal creases 22. This causes the side wall panel |1 to spread outwardly, parallel to one another. and the end wall panel IE) to approach a coplanar relation of the component sections 28, 2| thereof, flexing about the aforesaid creases 22. Due to integral, hinged connection of the cross partition elements 3|] to the side wall and handle panels I1, 33, said elements likewise flex about the medial hinge crease 34 toward a planar shape, disposed normal to said panels. As this occurs, the uncreased locking and bracing sections 35 of said partition elements 3%] swing inwardly about their hinges 28, their outer free extremities wiping along the adjacent exposed side surfaces of the central panel 33, 48, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The erection of the carton is now completed by manually swinging said elements 35 further inward until their extremities engage in the detent notches 42 of panel 48 of the multi-ply longitudinal suspending and longitudinal partition members constituted by panels 33 and 40. These notches are exposed below the lower margin of the panel sections 33 defined by the slits 3|, as are the lower sides of panel 43. This engagement locks and braces the cross partition elements 30 in their operative position normal to the side wall and handle panel.

In order to further brace the carrier, the bottom i4 thereof is swung upwardly beyond a horizontal plane through its medial crease l3 and is latched at the ends of said crease over the locking hooks 25. Hence, the carrier is laterally braced and held in rectangular outline by the dual action of the cross partition structure 46, extending between the side walls thereof and the central panel thereof and locked to the latter, and by the bottom |5 acting directly as a strut between the two side walls I! and held in bracing condition by the hooks 25.

The above bottle carrier is simple and economical in its construction, is readily and quickly set up to operative condition, in which it is well suited for loading either manually or by automatic machinery. It is stably supported on its bottom for loading, and even though the bottom sections l5 may be dislodged from the supporting hooks 25 during the loading operation,

this is not objectionable, inasmuch as the bottles,

themselves maintain the shape of the carrier when filled.

The carrier is attractive in appearance, presenting a relatively large area which may be suitably decorated with advertising or ornamental material. It will be noted that the end wall panels l9 are considerably rigidified by the interleaving of the flaps 24 thereof in the cen tral handle construction of the carrier, thereby acting to interdistribute stresses between the end wall and the handle structure.

I claim:

A collapsible carrier for bottles or like articles comprising a pair of upstanding side walls connected to one another by a medially bendable bottom, an upstanding multi-ply panel paralleling and between said side walls, end walls flexibly conjoined to opposite end margins of said side walls and to said panel, being interleaved with the plies of the "latter, and cross partitions cut from the material. of said side walls and panel and positioned normal thereto in the erected condition of the carrier, said cross partitions being connected by vertical hinges to said respective side walls and the nearest adjacent ply of said panel, being coplanar therewith in the collapsed condition of the carrier, a portion of each of said cross partitions extending from and swinging freely from the side wall hinge thereof and being relatively inflexible in character whereby to constitute a bracing and locking element, and another portion being provided with a bend line intermediate the side wall and panel hinges thereof, said panel in cluding an intermediate ply which is provided with a detent formation engaging said first named portion of said cross partition to hold the latter in operative position normal to said side walls and panel, said last named ply of said panel being remote with respect to the partition engaged thereby.

EDWIN L. ARNESON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,574,520 Singer Feb. 23, 1926 1,948,033 Warner Feb, 20, 1934 2,344,567 Sidebotham Mar. 21, 1944 2,352,123 Ringler June 20, 1944 2,359,678 Ringler Oct. 3, 1944 2,390,020 Wesselman Nov. 27, 1945 2,460,229 Lebold Jan. 25, 1949 

